Snapchat Settles Teen Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Ahead of Trial
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Snap Inc., parent company of Snapchat, settled a social media addiction lawsuit in California just days before trial. The teenage plaintiff claimed Snapchat’s design led to addiction and mental health issues. Settlement terms remain confidential.
This settlement is part of broader, ongoing litigation involving Meta, TikTok and YouTube. Thousands of lawsuits claim that the social media platforms were designed to encourage addictive behaviors in young users.
Snap Settles Before Trial, Other Platforms Move Forward
The settlement comes just one week before trial was set to start in Los Angeles County, Calif. The plaintiff, identified only as 19-year-old K.G.M., claimed that she became addicted to Snapchat as a teenager, which led to mental health challenges.
While Snap has resolved its involvement in this case, other defendants have not. Meta, TikTok parent ByteDance, and Google’s YouTube remain parties to the trial, with jury selection scheduled for later this month. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was also scheduled to appear before the settlement.
The Broader Legal Fight Over Social Media Harm
More than 2,000 lawsuits claiming social media harm have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, in a Northern California federal court. MDLs combine several similar lawsuits into a single litigation to make the legal process more efficient.
The lawsuits claim social media features like infinite scroll, algorithmic recommendations and auto-play video exposed young users to harmful content and that companies misrepresented safety measures to the public.
The social media litigation has been compared to cases against Big Tobacco and opioid manufacturers. Lawsuits claim internal documents and whistleblower testimony indicate executives were aware of mental health risks but did nothing to address the problems.
In 2023, more than three dozen states sued Meta, alleging it used manipulative features to engage children on Instagram and Facebook.
Social media companies deny any link to the plaintiffs’ injuries and cite federal protections, known as Section 230, for their platforms.
